The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
Six months after a tornado tore through central Arkansas, damaging parts of Mayflower and Vilonia and western Pulaski County, Catholic Charities of Arkansas has been offering many services through its Disaster Case Management Office.
In the days after the April 27 storm, Catholic Charities set up operations in office space provided by the St. Joseph Church in Conway. Initially, CCA participated with other groups in multi-day events in the affected communities. Its role was to meet as many of the survivors as possible and enroll them as clients for long-term case management. CCA began assisting clients by helping them meet their initial needs of food, medical care, temporary housing, clothing and emotional support.
Catholic Charities needed assistance in setting up and running its operation. This was provided through Catholic Charities USA, which coordinated temporary support from Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri, the Florida Catholic Conference and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Experienced case managers came for up to three weeks to help with case intake, provision of immediate needs, and to provide guidance as CCA established a permanent case management office.
Contributions of money, in-kind items, and volunteer labor streamed in during these early days. From outside of the state, the diocese received thousands of dollars from individuals, families and organizations. From within the state, through the diocesan collection and from direct contributions from parishes and individuals, a fund of more than $350,000 was collected to provide relief and administer the operations. With support from grants from Catholic Charities USA and the Sisters of Charity, an administrative fund was established to provide for the operations of Disaster Case Management Office.
In May and June, cases were processed. The caseload grew from 60 in May to 90 by the end of June.
During June, the office was able to hire two case managers, Clara Avila and Cynthia Shuffield. In late June, Tracy Eichenberger was hired as the case management coordinator. All three continued work out of the office space made available by St. Joseph Parish.
The case managers worked to solve immediate needs of clients but also began developing long-term plans in each case to allow each family to resiliently recover. The case managers exercised creativity in finding sources of financial assistance for clients. Funds from many organizations were made available, particularly the Salvation Army and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
June also saw the initial formation of community groups designed to respond directly to assist clients. In Mayflower, Catholic Charities participated in the formation of a long-term recovery group called the Interfaith and Partners Disaster Recovery Alliance. In Vilonia, the Vilonia Disaster Recovery Alliance was reactivated. VDRA had been established after Vilonia’s 2011 tornado.
Lastly, the office participated in the formation of a county-wide entity that has become known as the Faulkner County Long-Term Recovery Board. From the perspective of case management, the activities of each group are coordinated through a joint long term-case management committee, organized by Tracy Eichenberger and Janice Mann of the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Through this coordination, the joint long-term case management committee established uniform procedures and forms for processing cases.
The committee goals are to ensure that no person or family needing assistance is neglected and that delivery of services is coordinated among the organizations so that no services are duplicated.
Throughout July, the case managers continued to address the immediate needs of families, the long-term recovery groups continued to organize, and outside assistance arrived to provide training.
Gabe Tischler of the Florida Catholic Conference traveled to Conway in early July to provide a nuts-and-bolts presentation to case managers. Late in the month, two more formal trainings were presented.
Church World Service provided a one-day course on disaster recovery: assessment, case management, construction, volunteer management and emotional and spiritual support. This was followed by a two-day, intensive course on disaster case management, presented by UMCOR. Catholic Charities participated in each of these training sessions.
During July, the Disaster Case Management Office at St. Joseph distributed approximately $40,000 in assistance to clients, meeting immediate and long-term needs. Relief provided included permanent housing, furnishings, appliances, decking and ramps for mobile homes, roof repairs and interior repairs. Case managers facilitated the delivery of relief through office and home visits and conducted the price comparison shopping required for both items purchased and for construction supplies.
During August, cases under management increased to more than 90. Again, approximately $40,000 in assistance to clients was provided. As with July, the fund sources for the assistance were, for the most part, from outside agencies as solicited by case managers.
Coordination with the long-term recovery groups continued and those groups began to become more effective as they became organized.
During September, an organization called World Renew came to Arkansas and conducted a two-week survey of the neighborhoods impacted by the path of the storm. The goal of World Renew’s effort was to identify all possible clients not already enrolled in the case management system.
This effort, by the end of the month, generated an increase of cases, to more than 100 for the Disaster Case Management Office. During September, approximately $40,000 in assistance was provided to clients to meet immediate and long-term needs.
One of the significant immediate needs continued to be rental assistance. Before the tornado, a family renting property typically found an affordable rental. After the tornado, the rental market became tight, and the costs of rentals rose.
Families needing rentals were forced to rent properties that consumed a significantly higher portion of the family budget, thus requiring ongoing assistance until reasonably priced, permanent accommodations could be located or built.
By the end of September, the Disaster Case Management Office had assisted 177 households, comprised of 485 individuals. Approximately 10 percent of those assisted were immigrant families.
The case management routine continued through October. By the end of the month, the Disaster Case Management Office caseload had risen to more than 125 cases.
Working principally through the IFPA, the office managed cases from Pulaski County, Mayflower, Vilonia, unincorporated areas of Faulkner and White counties. The VDRA managed an additional caseload of more than 60 cases. As in previous months, approximately $40,000 in assistance was provided to clients through the Disaster Case Management Office.
The construction committees of the long-term recovery groups began rebuilding activities in conjunction with volunteer reconstruction groups, such as the Baptist Home Builders and the Nomads.
In October, the IFPA was able to have one house rebuilt, while VDRA built three.
During the first week of November, the Joint Unmet Needs Committee convened for the first time to consider cases for rebuilding and repairing homes involving significant expenditures.
Catholic Charities sits on the Unmet Needs Committee as both a funder and case managers presenting cases for clients needing the significant donations to rebuild.
Other participants on the committee include Samaritan’s Purse, Salvation Army, World Relief, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, UMCOR and other faith-based groups. Samaritan’s Purse and World Relief alone have committed to build as many as two dozen homes, starting in January 2015.
Catholic Charities of Arkansas has strictly managed the diocesan funds made available for disaster relief. In addition to expenditures for direct relief and disaster operations, the office provided funding to organizations involved.
Within days after the tornado, Catholic Charities provided emergency funding to St. Joseph Church in Conway and Immaculate Heart of Mary in North Little Rock to ensure these parishes had assets ready to assist parishioners and others in their communities. Catholic Charities also provided seed money to each of the local community long-term recovery groups, the IFPA and VDRA, to allow them to get their operations underway.
Great progress has been made to date. Effective and well-coordinated recovery organizations have been built with the assistance of Tracy Eichenberger. Dedicated relief efforts for survivors have been provided, thanks to case managers Cynthia Shuffield and Clara Avila.
The first six months after the tornado have been productive and have cared largely for immediate needs. It is anticipated that the next six months will see significant rebuilding efforts and the return of more and more survivors to normalcy.
This report was supplied by Catholic Charities of Arkansas.
Please read our Comments Policy before posting.
Article comments powered by Disqus
One year later: Wynne still recovering from tornado
One Church drive for small Decatur church at halfway
Resettlement program seeking housing for new refugees
Interpreters, medical volunteers needed for clinic
Caseworkers continue state's long-term tornado recovery
Don’t let misconceptions cause faith to waver
Seniors, whatever storms may come, Jesus will be there
Studio 3:16 offers new approach to teaching religion
After three decades, NLR principal plans to retire
CHS athlete overcomes odds to reach collegiate goal
St. Joseph a model of solidarity with immigrants
Two gifts after Jesus’ death: Virgin Mary and Eucharist
Why we have an altar, and not just a communion table
Pope: Wars should be resolved through nonviolence
Living relationship with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist
